SEOUL: North Korea threatened military action yesterday against US and South Korean warships plying the waters near the Koreas’ disputed maritime border, raising the specter of a naval clash just days after the regime’s underground nuclear test.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Pyongyang faced unspecified consequences because of its “provocative and belligerent” acts.
Pyongyang, reacting angrily to Seoul’s decision to join an international program to intercept ships suspected of aiding nuclear proliferation, called South Korea’s decision tantamount to a declaration of war. “Now that the South Korean puppets were so ridiculous as to join in the said racket and dare declare a war against compatriots,” North Korea is “compelled to take a decisive measure,” the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement carried by state media.
The North Korean Army called it a violation of the armistice the two Koreas signed in 1953 to end their three-year war, and said it would no longer honor the treaty.
South Korea’s military said yesterday it was prepared to “respond sternly” to any North Korean provocation. Clinton said “there are consequences to such actions,” referring to discussions in the United Nations meant to punish North Korea for its nuclear and missile tests.
She also underscored the firmness of the US treaty commitment to defend South Korea and Japan, US allies in easy reach of North Korean missiles.
North Korea’s latest belligerence comes as the UN Security Council debates how to punish the regime for testing a nuclear bomb Monday in what US President Barack Obama called a “blatant violation” of international law.
Ambassadors from the five permanent veto-wielding council members — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — as well as Japan and South Korea were working out the details of a new resolution.
The success of any new sanctions would depend on how aggressively China, one of North Korea’s only allies, implements them. South Korea, divided from the North by a heavily fortified border, had responded to the nuclear test by joining the Proliferation Security Initiative, a US-led network of nations seeking to stop ships from transporting the materials used in nuclear bombs.
Seoul previously resisted joining the PSI in favor of seeking reconciliation with Pyongyang, but pushed those efforts aside Monday after the nuclear test in the northeast.
North Korea warned yesterday that any attempt to stop, board or inspect its ships would constitute a “grave violation.” The regime also said it could no longer promise the safety of US and South Korean warships and civilian vessels in the waters near the Korea’s western maritime border.
“They should bear in mind that the (North) has tremendous military muscle and its own method of strike able to conquer any targets in its vicinity at one stroke or hit the US on the raw, if necessary,” the army said in a statement carried by state media.
Yesterday, the regime promised “unimaginable and merciless punishment” for anyone daring to challenge its ships.
Pyongyang also reportedly restarted its weapons-grade nuclear plant, South Korean media said.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper said US spy satellites detected signs of steam at the North’s Yongbyon nuclear complex, an indication it may have started reprocessing nuclear fuel. The report, which could not be confirmed, quoted an unidentified government official. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency also carried a similar report.
